Our Story
What started out as a group of moms meeting in a living room has grown into a community of over 6400 Black moms in the Pittsburgh region, and over 10,000 moms nationally.
That day in early summer, a few women gathered to talk about their common struggles and joys in raising Black children. Muffy was at the tail end of fighting postpartum depression and felt she’d found her tribe.
The small gathering transformed to a blog, the blog spilled over into a Facebook group, the Facebook group became a community. Over the years Brown Mamas have traded stories, uniforms, groceries, kids and most of all, they’ve found support online and off.
Our story is one of tribe-building, resilience and social change that happens when Black mothers decide to become the village they seek.
Vision
In our vision, Brown Mamas is a global, multi-generational community of Black mothers that creates safe spaces that put Black moms first, amplifies the voices and lived experiences of Black moms and creates innovative programs that solve social and economic problems and empowers Black mothers to lead in the communities they care for.
Mission
Brown Mamas exist to elevate the collective Black mothering experience through social capital expansion.
Values
- We value the development of safe spaces for Black women by Black women.
- We value the preservation of the Black mothering experience and the amplification of their voices.
- We value innovative programming that is responsive to the real-time needs of our mothers.
- We value opportunities for Black mothers to lead in the communities they serve.
- We value partnership in our quest to continually strengthen the capacity and reach of our community.
Story of Now
Since those early days in 2012, Brown Mamas has become many things. It is an entryway for Black mothers new to the Pittsburgh region, it is a Facebook group where Black moms share resources, vent and connect with other mamas, it is a vehicle for amplifying the voices and lived experiences through the Brown Mama Monologues, but more than anything it is an organic, grassroots community created for Black moms by Black moms.
Today, Brown Mamas is an organization that has figuratively and literally changed the social perspective on Black mothering in Pittsburgh. We are also making waves nationally, as the Brown Mama Monologues gains national recognition through it’s showcase in the DC metro region and our acceptance into the Facebook Community Accelerator Program.
How can you get contribute to our ever expanding mothering ecosystem? Click here to learn more!